Tourists and residents of Ocracoke Island, one of the barrier islands of the Outer Banks in North Carolina, were piling onto ferries and boarding up their properties on Wednesday morning, as officials ordered the first evacuations in anticipation of Hurricane Earl.

One of the busiest weekends of the year quickly turned to bust, as innkeepers watched their guests depart and considered whether they, too, would have to evacuate.

“We were full and we were planning on a nice weekend for Labor Day, but obviously, that’s not going to happen,” said George Chamberlin, the owner of Captain’s Landing, a small inn located on the harbor in Ocracoke Island. “It’s too bad that we have to have these interruptions, but it’s just part of the cost of living on the East Coast,” he said.